In process automation systems, operating and monitoring equipment performs the operation and monitoring of processes in control technology, as well as archiving and documenting the process values generated and process messages from subordinate automation systems. In order for a process to be monitored and optionally operated simultaneously by multiple operators, client-server concepts are used today, where the server, also known as the host station or host computer, performs all the computing, and the clients, also known as terminals, are responsible only for graphic output and permit operator input and change of displays by using a mouse and keyboard. At the host station there is a process bus which establishes the connection with the automation equipment and a terminal bus which establishes the physical connection with the terminals. The host station and terminals are usually located in the control room or adjacent rooms.
Increasingly complex processes and automation systems make the highest demands on the host station with regard to computing power and memory capacity. Security requirements and regulations governing complete documentation of the production of a batch, for example, often require installation of another redundant system. This plus the care and maintenance of the equipment mean increased financial expenditures for plant operators.
The object of the present invention is to reduce the hardware.
One advantage of the automation system according to the present invention is that the required computing power can be supplied by a host computer outside the control room of the automated plant, in particular in a central computer center, so the plant operator need not have his own host computer (host station), thus eliminating the acquisition costs, care and maintenance for the plant operator. In particular, the possibility of simultaneous operation of multiple automation systems by the host computer makes it possible to design the latter as a supercomputer with an especially large computing power and memory, thereby increasing the benefit for each individual automation system. Almost all relevant data can be stored in the main computer, and all important process information can be archived to an almost unlimited extent and made available to the plant operator. Another advantage is the possibility of a redundant design of the automation system, which can be implemented, with regard to the host computer, invisibly to the plant manufacturer in the computer center.